Friday, August 27th, 2010 - 10:33 am

From the Athletic Director

New athletic year brings more teams, profile-enhancing efforts

A new academic school year is underway, and for Purdue University Calumet athletics that means the arrival of new recruits and the start of the 2010-11 Peregrines’ sports schedule. As I mentioned in my last message, this is an exciting time for Purdue Calumet athletics. Four new sports are joining our family, as men’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball will commence play this fall.

The addition of our new sports, not only will increase opportunities for students to join intercollegiate programs, but it also will allow our athletic program to become more active in other areas. Over the next year, we are planning to enlist a Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), while also increasing our community service efforts. The new programs are an attempt to enhance our department’s profile and are required for our eventual planned move to NCAA Division III.

Student Athlete Advisory Committee

SAAC will become an important part of our athletic program in enhancing the Purdue Calumet student-athlete experience. After our coaches select representatives from their respective teams to serve on the committee, SAAC will get to work seeking to promote effective communication between student-athletes and our athletic administration, leadership opportunities, support for fellow student-athletes and foster a positive student-athlete image to the campus and surrounding community.

During the past year our student-athletes have been involved in a number of service ventures, including Coaches vs. Cancer fundraisers and housing projects with the Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery of Indiana. However, in order to take our community service effort to the next level, each athletic program will be required to participate in its own service project each year while also joining in a department-wide endeavor.

Community outreach & more

These projects will be similar to our current R-Dub Club, a partnership with the School City of Hammond in which Peregrine basketball players encourage reading and writing in Hammond elementary schools. Our goal is to continue to develop new, creative programs that will allow our student-athletes to reach out to communities in our region and beyond.

Keep checking the Purdue Calumet athletics’ site for more updates on these plans along with continuous coverage of Peregrine athletics—and don’t forget to check out our apparel site, fangearlive.com/calumet, for your official Peregrinalia!